Broken water main floods UCLA, Sunset Boulevard with millions of gallons of water

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The hardwood floor at Pauley Pavilion is flooded from a water main break on Sunset Boulevard near the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014 in Los Angeles, Calif. The famed arena underwent a $136,000 million renovation from 2010-12. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Los Angeles Daily News)

A massive water main break on Sunset Boulevard pours water onto the street and the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Los Angeles Daily News)

WESTWOOD >> A 30-inch water main that ruptured near UCLA on Tuesday afternoon sent 8 million to 10 million gallons of water onto Sunset Boulevard and the campus, flooding the recently remodeled Pauley Pavilion sports area, among other structures, officials said.

As of 7:30 p.m., about half a dozen Los Angeles Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue trucks and more than a dozen Los Angeles Department of Water and Power trucks were on the scene, with workers clearing foot-deep debris from Sunset, a major thoroughfare on the Westside.

After the 3:30 p.m. rupture, sandbags were immediately piled up near the campus, where some UCLA students could be seen wading through knee-high mud and water.

Pumps were expected Tuesday evening to suck the water out, said Los Angeles fire spokesman Jaime Moor. He said five structures on the campus were flooded, including Pauley Pavilion and the John Wooden Center. Water also flowed into parking structures 4 and 7.

At an evening press conference, a UCLA official said Morgan Center had worst flooding, at about a foot and a half deep.

The Fire Department reported no injuries, but Moore did say five people had to be rescued after they went into flooded parking structures to rescue their cars.

“The hole looks to be about as big as a large truck,” said James McDaniels, assistant general manager for the LADWP. He added that the pipe was anywhere from six to 10 feet below the surface.

“This is a huge main that takes water to UCLA and to Brentwood,” Moore told reporters in the afternoon.

“It’s very deep,” he said of the flood. “It looks deceiving.”

The water main ruptured on Sunset near Marymount High School, just north of the campus. No evacuations were immediately ordered, and operations at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center were unaffected. But many students and others were told to stay away from the area.

Lydia Bautista drove to UCLA from San Bernardino with two of her children and three nephews and nieces for the grand finale of her daughter Nataly’s research project on Tuesday.

They finished just in time to learn their minivan was parked on the upper level in one of the flooded parking structures.

“We got out and saw all the water coming down,” Nataly Bautista said. “We usually never park in the structure.”

The family waited outside police tape on Sunset to find out whether their minivan was OK and when they could get it.

Sunset Boulevard around UCLA will be closed today, said Councilman Paul Koretz. He urged drivers to remember the “Carmageddon” closure of the 405 Freeway in 2011, and to just stay away.

Moore of the Fire Department said all streets and buildings would be assessed for damage after the flood is cleaned up, with severe water damage likely due to the thousands of gallons of water released.

McDaniels, from DWP, said there’s no way to inspect water pipes, however, the department does do leak testing.

“We usually do that if there’s something suspicious, and there was nothing suspicious about this one,” he said. “It’s always a chance when you have old infrastructure and corrosive soil.”

It took about four hours for DWP workers to shut off the main because they first had to figure out which pipe had burst. They ended up shutting down three valves slowly because the pipes started to rattle, McDaniels said. If they went too fast, it could have meant more cracks and leaks.

“We probably do need to repair and replace more infrastructure moving forward,” he said.

The DWP has lagged in maintaining its power infrastructure, department officials have acknowledged. Nearly a third of all the power poles have exceeded their 60-year expected lifespan, but officials say they can’t replace them at their targeted rate because of labor issues and other obstacles.

Tony Wilkinson, chairman of the DWP Neighborhood Council Oversight Committee, said the Westwood water main break raises the same concerns.

“The people of Los Angeles need to hold the department responsible for fulfilling its own promises of maintaining its infrastructure,” Wilkinson said. “This is a symbol of a bigger problem.”

Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is on vacation in Michigan, issued a statement that he is monitoring the events to deal with the flooding.

“I … remain in constant contact with key city departments including the LADWP, LAFD and LAPD, along with UCLA to make sure we are leading a closely coordinated response,” Garcetti said in a statement. “The Mayor’s Office and our city departments will continue to provide further updates.”

As part of the response the city activated its Emergency Operations Center to a Level 1 to help coordinate the responses and monitor the situation.

In a news release Tuesday evening, the DWP said no customers were without water and water quality was not adversely impacted. A Bel Air resident contacted the Los Angeles Daily News late Tuesday to report that his street was without water for about four hours.

In an email, DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo said DWP would be responsible for damage claims resulting from the break.

Crews were set to begin immediately fixing the 93-year-old high-pressure, riveted steel pipe that delivers water to the area at a high velocity from Upper Stone Canyon Reservoir, according to the DWP.

Water flow through the pipe when operational is estimated at 75,000 gallons per minute, according to the DWP.

“It’s a large main,” Vargas said. “That’s a lot of water compared to other neighborhood mains. We don’t even know the extent of the damage.”

About an hour after the rupture, workers placed sandbags around campus, including around the north side of the Pauley Pavilion. But water moved inside quickly, flooding the court that had reopened only two years ago after undergoing a $136 million renovation.

Traffic also backed up along Wilshire Boulevard.

Meanwhile, some who took to social media noted the irony of the rushing river down Sunset Boulevard at a time when California is in a serious drought.

“All my water conservation feels like a waste now,” Stuart Palley, an L.A. based photographer, wrote on Twitter. “All that dishwashing in the sink and not washing my car. Life is cruel.”